connor doubt script

 

TITLE: “DOUBT: The Volunteer Assistant Coach”

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Alright. Tonight’s topic is Doubt The Forrest Gump of all emotions. You name a tennis event, its always there.

Its The Cal Ripkin of emotions. Never misses a game, definitely the most consistent member of your team. Doubt. Like a helicopter Mom..never misses a match.  Doubt has perfect attendance. Doubt never pulls a hammie,. Doubt never needs a bathroom break. Doubt is your plus one always ready, always present, when he's least needed, he's always there

Here’s the definition, clean and painful: Doubt is the emotion of uncertainty.

We’ve had Doubt forever. The original was Doubting Thomas—“I need to see Jesus' receipts.” And now we all live like that. We doubt everything. Elections, science, the shape of the Earth—yet we’ll believe a guy on the internet named TruthHammer47 with a profile picture of a bald eagle wearing sunglasses. That’s modern doubt: we trust nothing, yet will believe anything.

And life doesn’t help. It’s all probability. Fifty percent chance of rain. Bull market, bear market. The viral dress—blue? gray? I’m still not sure and I’ve lost sleep over less. We are running Windows 2.0 in a 5G world. Our brains are buffering in real time.

Now take that cultural soup and pour it straight into competitive tennis. Because if the world is a laboratory for doubt, tennis is the experiment we can never prove
Tennis isn’t chess, or majhong (anybody know how to play this?) but the number of decisions and calculations a player must make per point, while sprinting! while being judged  for your outfit, its all head-spinning

[Lean in.] Yet the cruel part is: Time is not always our friend..we get time to think at exactly the wrong moments. Take that sitter overhead. Not hard technically, but emotionally? My goodnness, the thoughts that can surge forward.  And lets just say, if you're anything like me, not all of them are empowering.  

[Switch to “Doubt voice” for one line.]
“Don’t miss. Whatever you do… don’t miss.”  Has that kind of thinking ever worked?

And Doubt doesn’t just stay in your head. It shows up in the body too: tight grip, tight chest, shallow breath, stuck feet. The circuitry gets shorted. Then it starts calling in plays from the sideline.. Tennis becomes one big audible. Out goes the game plan (coach with a chalkboard of shots)  and start playing full defense (everything landing in the middle  The Doubt plays)   Balls land short. Swings get guided if made at all. Decision-making slows. We are full safe-mode, our desire to not miss almost assuring we never develop

So what do we do? Here’s the key: we're never getting get rid of doubt. That’s fantasy. Doubt is proof something’s at stake. The goal isn’t to erase it—it’s to keep it from hijacking your development and enjoyment. You know what you're capable if. Doubt is the interference keeping us from our potential.

Short-term hijack looks like this: one miss and we start catatstrophising. Here we go again!!. Evidence is presented. The jury in your head is seated. And the verdict is always the same: I'm not going to blow this 

 Long-term hijack is worse: you start rehearsing a smaller life. You avoid pressure. You avoid competition. You avoid the very situations that would build belief. Doubting yourself in the game you love the most. can you think of anything more self-sabotaging? 

So we manage it—FBTL style. By applying some simple tools

One: Preparation. You simulate pressure so it’s not a stranger. Lean into the discomfort. swim in it.
Two: Use cue words. One process goal. Things you can actually do—move feet,” release through the shot shape,” loose grip  breathe deeply
Three: Strong body language, intentional tempo. Override your nervous system with positivity

And here’s the line that saves careers: Doubt gets a voice, not a vote.
You can hear it. You can acknowledge it. You can even thank it for trying to keep you safe. But it does not get to call the plays

 Belief, the goal, isn’t the absence of doubt. Belief is the mindset you create in the presence of doubt

And if you’re waiting to feel certain before you compete… congratulations. You’ve just agreed to never compete again

So: welcome to tennis. You're in Doubt's house now. Best learn to keep it under control.